The relationship between anthropometry and body composition from computed tomography: The Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America Study

Morgana Mongraw-Chaffin*, Alka M. Kanaya, Namratha R. Kandula, Arti Shah, Cheryl A.M. Anderson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: Few studies examine the relationships between anthropometry and the body composition measures they approximate, or whether they differ by sex, and no studies have examined these relationships in South Asians living in the US. Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 871 participants in the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) Study who had BMI < 40 kg/m2 and underwent abdominal CT scans for measurement of visceral and subcutaneous fat. Linear regression was used to model the associations between anthropometric measures and naturally log-transformed body composition measures. Results: All measures of anthropometry, except height, were significantly associated with visceral fat and had a significant non-linear component (p <.05). The only associations for visceral fat that exhibited significant heterogeneity by sex were waist circumference (% difference in visceral fat slope: women 1.92, men 2.74, p =.007 for interaction) and waist-to-hip ratio (women 25.9, men 717.4, p <.001). Except for height, all measures of anthropometry were significantly associated with subcutaneous fat, had a significant quadratic component, and significant heterogeneity by sex (weight (kg): 2.74 for women, 4.08 for men; BMI (kg/m2): 10.3, 14.0; waist circumference (cm): 1.51, 3.36; hip circumference (cm): 2.53, 4.50) with p <.001 for each. Conclusions: In MASALA participants, the relationships of anthropometric measures with visceral and subcutaneous fat appear similar to other race/ethnic groups, but with weaker non-linearity and heterogeneity by sex. Given these results, researchers should consider separate models by sex for US South Asians when approximating subcutaneous fat or when using waist circumference to approximate visceral fat.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)565-574
Number of pages10
JournalEthnicity and Health
Volume22
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2 2017

Funding

This work was supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [1K24HL112827, 5T32DK007418-34,5T32HL007261,R01HL093009,T32HL079891], and the Wilsey Family Foundation, The MASALA study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute [R01HL093009] and the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, and University of California, San Francisco CTSI [UL1 RR024131].

Keywords

  • Visceral fat
  • body mass index
  • sex difference
  • subcutaneous fat
  • waist circumference

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cultural Studies
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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